Helper

When I woke up I saw this cute little girl making lunch for her siblings. That meant I didn't have to do it. What a sweetheart!

Missing Daddy

Jason is out of town until Sunday for AAE in Denver. The girls are so used to Daddy meeting them at the bus. They hug him and Eva bull-rushes him. He won't be there at the bus stop for the next three days. Darby got off the bus and buried her face in my chest. She began to cry. The other two moped as they got off as well. They miss Daddy.

Building

We've been cleaning out the garage in preparation for the move. Jason found our old crib parts that I just haven't been able to let go f yet. I kept thinking we could make something out of them. Well, Jason has just purchased a miter saw and was itching to make something. This was a perfect starter job. We decided to make a bench out of it.

He let Eva help. She loved working with the power tools.

The kids helped paint it. Since it was veneer it took three coats of primer. Then two coats of polyacrylic. When we were done I never want to paint slats again!

I stained some wood for the seat. Here is the finished product. So sentimental and meaningful, not to mention pretty darned good looking.

Now Jason is on a real woodworking kick. He and I are tired of cheap particle board furniture that doesn't last, especially through a move. His desk is falling apart so he made himself another one. We stained the whole thing. It looks amazing. He wants to make me one now.

Playdoh Fun

The PX had a Playdoh event this weekend. The girls really wanted to go. There were all sorts of colors and molds. There was even Dr. Drill and Fill (we have that one too at home). It was a make and take sort of event so they sat down and made some fun shapes.

Eva made animals and Darby made flowers.

I couldn't quite make out what Paige had made. When I asked her she looked at me like I should have known. "I made teeth, Mommy!" Of course, a dentist's daughter.

Playdoh was too babyish for Brendan but they had Magformers there too. They are magnetic buiding shapes.  He had fun with those. In fact, he made something so awesome that the store worker came over to take a picture.

Family History

This morning Brendan asked me to tell him a story from when I was a child. I told him one but then directed him to a book that my mother had made. She wrote down stories about our family and asked others to do so as well. She also collected stories and pictures from our ancestors. Then she compiled them into a binder. My kids are LOVING reading it. Family history rocks!

Progress

Today I had an IEP meeting for Brendan. That means that I meet with his teachers, some admin, and the social worker and we go over his progress on his current goals and set new ones. Academics have ever been a problem for him. His goals are all social and behavioral. I actually like these meetings as they give me a chance to see how school is really going for him and get a sense of the people that work with him.

This was the best IEP meeting yet. For the first time in a long time, it was almost all good news. Brendan is really blossoming at his new school. His teacher, Ms. McCarthy and his SpEd caseworker, Ms. Stout, are so on top of things. Even his special teachers in PE and music are accommodating and kind. Due to the awful experience he had at FBES the past two years with peers, he arrived at Riverside still very much in defense mode and angry at the world. It has taken a while but he has grown so much. He comes home happy on most days. He has a few friends in his class and on the bus. His citizenship has improved as well as his attitude. No more dark cloud looming. Contrast all this to last year and you might not be sure its the same kid.

All of this was reiterated to me at the meeting. His teachers love him. One of them said that the best part of the day is when she gets to eat lunch with him. I will say that he is a pretty good conversationalist. Ms. McCarthy says he is opening up and even joking with her. She says he is pretty funny in class and the students laugh with him (not at him, like in previous years).  Even though he thinks Ms. McCarthy is strict, she is the perfect sort of teacher for him - firm, direct and with high expectations. All of his teachers at the meeting said that they will miss him. That means a lot to me. We still have a ways to go with his social skills and some behaviors but he is certainly on the right track.

Since he will be going to middle school next year and moving this IEP was very comprehensive. We want to give every bit of information to the new school. It was wonderful to sit back and see the teachers formulate this plan for him. I didn't even need to say much, they just know him so well and really have his best interests at heart. We have a firm plan going forward and I have such support in advocating for him at his new school.

I took this a few years ago. I love this picture. It has meaning for me. In my mind, this typifies my boy. He made these cardboard wings himself. He stood up on the railing as if he wanted to fly, making me think of his amazing potential. This boy is sharp and creative and curious. His mind astounds me. He is also facing away from me, reminding me that connection can be hard for him. And so, while those wings are creative, they are delicate, held together by just tape. A rough wind could rip them; an unkind word or action could wound him so that he will take a long time recovering. Some days he is just barely held together, with so much stimulation and so much out of his control. He will need more sturdy wings if he wants to soar, and his wings will be unlike anyone else's. I am so grateful for the path we are now on. I pray that next year can treat him as well as this year has.

Nice Weather, Finally

Today was the first really nice day in a LONG time. We spent the afternoon outside. All the kids rodded their scooters and Jaosn even took out his skateboard. It was so nice to sit and rock on the porch rocking chair and watch them all zoom around the D.

Quite a change from the torrential downpour we had last weekend. Jason sent me this picture of the "puddles" he encountered on his run last Saturday.

Balloon

Paige got a balloon from her friend at a birthday party. She loved it. While I was at YW I got these pictures. Apparently, she let it go in the foyer where the ceilings are super high. Jason had to use a broom with tape and our tallest ladder.

When I got home it was still there. He said he got it down but then she let it loose again a few minutes later. I guess the lesson wasn't learned.

Blossoms

After church today we stopped by the prettiest tree on post for some pictures with the blossoms. Could it be that spring is really here?

My Kids are Silly

Silly, silly kids. But good kids.


Paige got a butterfly headband at school. She has decided to wear it frequently.

She dresses up in this tutu a lot as well. This time she donned her GWL birthday wolf ears as part of the ensemble.

Brendan discovered this photo editing app on the ipad. He has tons of fun with it. He is pretty "punny".

Apparently all the laundry baskets and a few blankets make a comfy bed.

At the YW/YW fundraiser Eva got to hold the Xidis baby. She loves littles ones.

The Mac is Dead

When we left for NC I shut down my computer. When we got home it wouldn't boot back up. We would see the prgress bar but it would never fully reach the end. We tried all the tricks that the internet suggested. Nothing worked. So I had to take it in to the Apple Store. They did diagnostics and tried rebooting it. I was there for almsot two hours. But still, no luck. They asked to keep it overnight to run some more tests on it.

I got a call the next day that they thought it was a memory problem which had damaged the logic baord. Since it is almost 7 years old (he called it "vintage") they would have to order the part and it would be expensive. Fixing it would cost half the price of a new one. I was very sad. It really wasn't cost effective to fix it since we were going to need a new one soon anyway. But all my pictures and documents from the past year were on it and not backed up. In the end, we decided to buy a new one (there was a sale and we had to jump on it). We loaded up our latest backup and I tried to see what data I could get back from emails, on the blog and on the cloud. I am heartbroken that some of my pictures and documents are gone forever but it wasn't really THAT much that we lost.

Now I have to set up the new computer how I want it, download a ton of updates and re-save documents to where I want them to be. Its been a process. But at least this computer turns on. And we learned a valuable lesson about backing up our computer regularly.

Easter and General Conference

This year Easter is on General Conference weekend. The Saturday session was full of changes. First, we have some new apostles and got to hear the new prophet, President Nelson, speak for the first time as president of the church. Secondly, they are making big changes to visiting and home teaching. The name is now ministering and it is much more personal and adaptive to the needs of the sisters and brothers taught. Also, in the priesthood session, it was announced that there will no longer be a High Priests Quorum. The Elders Quorum will now include all adult priesthood members. I think that is great. The more seasoned brethren have so much to share.

The kids got their Easter baskets in the morning and we watched the last two sessions in the afternoon. We learned that there will be a new temple in Russia, in India and one coming in Richmond, VA! The church is growing! All the talks were great but I know I need to re-read them. Watching conference with kids means you miss some things.

Later, we watched the last two sessions in the afternoon. We learned that there will be a new temple in Russia, another in India and one coming in Richmond, VA! The church is growing! All the talks were great but I know I need to re-read them. Watching conference with kids means you miss some things.